wondering the world with fun, food, travel, poetry, contemplation

April 7 – Neighborly Compassion

This story quietly reteaches the old adage: “you can’t judge a book by its cover”. I find it is a lesson I need to remind myself occasionally. It is human nature to make those “first sight” judgements. When we do, we often miss out on the truly meaningful.

We’ve lived next door to Sherry and her husband, Dave, for over twenty years, and she was always a person I avoided. Bob sometimes played racquetball with Dave, but I have never wanted to get socially involved with her. Even at Bob’s hint that they were wine lovers like us, I wasn’t interested.

I had always found her too loud – I could hear her yelling at Dave, her stepson, or their son, Steve, through both our exterior walls; too nosy – she always seemed to poke her nose outside whenever I was out in the garden; too domineering, and much too pushy. I couldn’t believe her chutzpah when she appeared at our door with her oldest daughter and a six-pack of beer as soon as she found out we had two young, handsome, male houseguests – my nephew and his friend – staying with us for…

Raised on a family farm in Northwestern Missouri, I became a singer, college administrator, corporate manager, educator, and author. My first poem was published in a statewide anthology when I was in high school. I am a former member of the Board for the Story Circle Network, a group of women dedicated to women telling their stories. I have a Ph.D from The Ohio State University and a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Rhode Island. Currently, I teach high school English and Spanish, sing, write and raise horses in the Panhandle of Texas. My memoir in poetry "On the Rim of Wonder", was published in April 2014 by Uno Mundo Press. Watch for book three, "You're Gonna Eat That!? Adventures with Food, Family, and Friends", later in 2019.